University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks and Provost Thomas Sullivan today named Darlyne Bailey the dean of the new College of Education and Human Development (CEHD). Her hiring is subject to Board of Regents approval. Bailey becomes both the first female dean and the first African-American dean of CEHD. She currently serves as vice president for academic affairs and dean of Teachers College, Columbia University. Bailey, a nationally recognized education leader, will start on Oct. 1.

"Bringing in Dr. Bailey as the leader of the College of Education and Human Development is a significant step in the University of Minnesota’s journey to become one of the top three public research universities in the world," Bruininks said. "This is a historic moment at the university."

Bailey brings dynamic energy and a profound range of experience and expertise to this new college, Sullivan said. "She’s uniquely suited to lead a college dedicated to developing human potential across the lifespan and to addressing key issues such as educational disparities," Sullivan said. "We’re extremely excited to introduce her to the university community–and to the state of Minnesota, where she’ll be deeply engaged in partnerships with our schools and other institutions."

Bailey will come to lead CEHD as it continues a bold transformation. The college is joining together on July 1 with General College and the College of Human Ecology’s department of family social science and School of Social Work to form a new College of Education and Human Development. The new college is committed to being a world leader in creating and advancing knowledge in the fields of education, family systems, human welfare and human development across the lifespan by conducting rigorous research; identifying and applying creative solutions to the pressing problems of individuals, families, societies and countries in timely, relevant ways; and transmitting knowledge through quality publications and products, teaching and public engagement and the dissemination of research findings.

Bailey said she is thrilled and honored to lead this new college. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build a unique college that will truly make a difference for countless lives. I look forward to the opportunity to work together with such an extraordinary breadth and depth of talent within the college and across the university," she said. "The potential for this new multidisciplinary College of Education and Human development is simply enormous."

The University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development long been considered among the top public education schools in the country, ranking fifth in the latest U.S. News and World Report survey. Columbia Teacher’s College was ranked second in the same survey among all U.S. colleges, just behind Harvard.  

But the integration of CEHD with the university’s General College and the College of Human Ecology’s Department of Family Social Science and School of Social Work have raised expectations that the college can be an even bigger player on the national education stage.

In spring 2003, Bailey served as acting president of the Teachers College at Columbia. From 1994 until 2002, she was dean and professor at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University. She earned a master’s degree in psychiatric social work from Columbia University, and a doctorate in organizational behavior from Case Western Reserve University.

As vice president for academic affairs and dean of Teachers College, Bailey oversees all of the college’s academic departments and programs, the student ombudsperson, the Gottesman Libraries, the Teachers College Record and the Center for Educational Outreach and Innovation, as well as a number of college/community partnerships. She also chairs several collegewide committees and oversees the offices of Enrollment and Student Services, Faculty Policy and Research, Institutional Studies, Sponsored Programs, Teacher Education Support Services, and Doctoral Studies.

At Teachers College, Bailey initiated and oversees what is called the "Teachers College Education Partnership Zone." This partnership is a collaboration among the college, corporations and not-for-profit and faith-based organizations to address the educational needs of elementary school children, their teachers and their families in Harlem, N.Y.

In 2000, one Ohio magazine called Bailey a "rainmaker" for her ability to raise funds. Bailey worked to increase endowment and research funds at Case’s Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences. During her tenure at Teachers College, Bailey helped secure a $10.8 million investment in the college’s National Academy for Excellence in Teaching from the Leeds family to provide professional development for high school teachers in low-income communities throughout New York City.

Bailey has written numerous articles and her two recent books are "Managing Human Resources in the Human Services" and "Strategic Alliances Among Health and Human Services Organizations: From Affiliations to Consolidations."

To hear Kenneth Wollack tell it, the United States is doing itself a disservice by not spending enough to spread democracy especially in Africa.

The demand for assistance by civil society in Africa “far outstrips the resources the United States has allocated for such undertakings,” he said. 

That is not even to mention the critical need for assistance by nascent institutions that the United States has encouraged the formation of.

Wollack is the president of the National Democratic Institute based in Washington, DC. NDI is a nonprofit that works to spread and strengthen democracy around the world. Mr. Wollack was speaking at the Mshale editorial office when he visited for an interview with the editorial team. He joined NDI in 1986 as executive vice-president and was elected president by the institute’s board of directors in 1993.

Madeline Albright, former US Secretary of State is the current chairman of the NDI board of directors. In its twenty-two year history, the organization operates in 60 countries, 15 of those being in Africa.

Mr. Wollack said that when the United States has invested time and resources in Africa, it has paid off. One particular reward for NDI’s work in Africa that he readily recalls is South African influence on the North Ireland peace talks. Northern Ireland studied closely the South African experience of reconciliation and reaching accommodation.

Asked whether renewed US interest in Africa particularly in Nigeria had anything to do with oil, he paused and said it is natural for a country like the US to focus on some key countries but that should not be seen as disinterest in other countries. “There is a great appreciation of what happens in others (countries),” he said.

Mr. Wollack believes what happens in one country greatly influences its neighbors. When independence came to Namibia in 1990, the success achieved convinced the international community that black majority rule in South Africa will work.

NDI is currently active in a number of African countries. It is assisting Nigeria in a variety of ways as that country prepares to hold elections next year. Among the programs in place is the assistance his origination is providing to the Nigerian parliament in understanding the budget the government presents. The organization is also assisting Nigerian groups inside the country prepare to observe the upcoming elections. Key to this initiative is assisting them in using information technology to adequately monitor the elections.

Such capacity building strategies and the fact that NDI has an internationalized team has made his organization successful in its efforts, according to Mr. Wollack. Among the people who have worked with NDI in the past include the current president of Ghana, John Kufuor before he became his country’s leader.

Africa is a complex place that many people do not readily grasp, according to the NDI president. He believes however that knowledge of African issues is improving albeit at a slower pace than he would like.

“Humility goes a long way (in NDI’s work). We don’t come with all the answers”, he said. According to him, NDI goes only where they are welcome.

United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan has cited the war in Iraq as his greatest disappointment during his tenure at the helm of the world body. Mr. Annan was speaking at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota  when he addressed the convocation ceremony to launch the college’s new Institute for Global Citizenship. The Secretary-General graduated from the college in 1961.

"It was a very painful experience for me, personally, because I thought we should have been able to avoid the war," he said at the College’s Filed House where the convocation was held. He said the division preceding the war and the ensuing destructive debates made that period his greatest disappointment as Secretary-General. He will have served two terms for ten years when he retires at the end of this year. He is the seventh person to occupy the post.

He praised Macalester College for its formation of the new institute and recalled how even in 1959 when he first came to the college, the spirit of internationalism and global outlook was very much present.

“Its launch could hardly come at a more crucial time in the life of the international community in general, and the United Nations in particular. More than ever before, the human race faces global problems – from poverty and inequality to nuclear proliferation, from climate change to bird flu, from terrorism to HIV/AIDS, from ethnic cleansing and genocide to trafficking in the lives and bodies of human beings. We need to come together and work out global solutions,” he told the packed Filed House gymnasium. About 2,000 students and guests attended the convocation.

With the advent of globalization, Mr. Annan said now more than ever is important to understand other cultures. He said those going through the institute will help dispel some myths about America, “the perception of an insular America with no interest in or understanding of the world beyond these shores,” he said.

He reminded the audience that the UN consists “of your government and mine” and not to view it as some autonomous body that functions independent of the world community. He said calls for the UN to stop the Iraq war do not make sense because “we didn’t start it so we can’t stop it”; he said but added that the world body is working jointly with the rest of the world to bring peace to the region as the world cannot afford a destabilized Iraq.

He told the friendly and admiring crowd “I hope you will always look to the United Nations as a forum in which Americans, along with all the world’s other peoples, can work together for freedom, prosperity and peace.”

Mr. Annan started his day at Macalester by raising a new UN flag at the school which the college’s president, Brian Rosenberg said was a demonstration of the school’s commitment to internationalism. Five students from the college’s UN Model Club, Sheena Paul, Jess Hasken, Paul Bisca, Henrik Hakonsen and Momcil Jelev assisted him in the flag raising. A bag pipe player preceded the event. As the flag reached the top just under the US flag, the sun immediately cut through the cloudy morning.

Among the friendly faces there to hear Mr. Annan speak was Macalester sophomore, Kalii Massey of Peoria, Illinois. She said seeing Mr. Annan speaking was worth giving up a Saturday morning, “I have never heard him speak and the fact that Macalester is known around the world because of him is really great”, she said.

To start the convocation ceremony, students carrying their countries’ flags marched behind the bagpipe players. Prayers at the convocation were said in four world languages by students, Korean, Slovakian, English and Kofi Annan’s own native Ga by Edinam Agbenyeke.

Mr. Annan also held a press conference at Macalester. Answering questions, he defended the UN against what he called “politically motivated and orchestrated” campaigns against the world body. He was referring to among others the oil for food program in which the UN personnel were accused of corruption. Minnesota US Senator Norm Coleman as chair of the senate investigations subcommittee even called for Mr. Annan’s resignation in 2004.

Mr. Annan was asked at the press conference what his relationship is like with Senator Coleman to which he responded “I can’t say we have a relationship,” an indication that the differences are yet to be resolved. He said he has very good relationships with former Vice-president, Walter Mondale who is from Minnesota and the late Senator Paul Wellstone adding that “This is a state that produces outstanding politicians and senators”, when he referred to the two.

While admitting a few UN staffers may have benefited from the oil for food program, he asked the journalists to keep things in perspective, reminding them that out of the US$65 billion program, UN staffers are accused of having benefited to the tune of $150,000. He said that did not rise to the level of branding the UN as a den of thieves. Most of the blame he said should go to the private companies that manipulated the program.

Responding to a question from Mshale, Mr. Annan said the United States gets blamed for many things but it should not be blamed for the failure of the UN to expand to eight the number of permanent security council members. He said that the inability to achieve the expansion is due to differences among member countries. He however said the current composition of the five permanent Security Council members does not reflect the geopolitical realties of the present world. He described it as a “democracy deficit”.

The Institute for Global Citizenship will be under the leadership of Dean Ahmed I. Samatar, who Mr. Annan quipped during a student question and answer session at Field House, could decide whether he (Mr. Annan) comes to teach at Macalester as a visiting lecturer. He was responding to a question from a student about his post retirement plans. Mr. Samatar, a native of Somalia, is the Dean of International Studies and Programming at Macalester.

Also at Macalester, Mr. Annan attended an invitation only luncheon hosted by the Caux Round Table, an international network of business and political leaders advocating an ethical approach to capitalism. The organization awarded him its 2006 Award for Principled Leadership. Also attending the luncheon was Saint Paul mayor, Chris Coleman, who issued a proclamation declaring the day (April 22, 2006) as Kofi Annan Day in his city. The mayor, whose city has a big population of Hmong immigrants told Mr. Annan he will be seeking his help in pushing for an investigation into reports of Hmong graves desecration taking place at a refugee camp in Thailand.

Mayor Coleman, who is not related to Senator Norm Coleman jokingly made sure he reminded the Secretary-general that point. Senator Coleman is also a former Saint Paul mayor.

After concluding his visit to Macalester, Mr. Annan made his way across the Mississippi river on I-94, under heavy security by the Minnesota State Patrol and his security detail to the Walker Art Center. The State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) is responsible for the UN Secretary General’s security while within the borders of the United States. 

At the Walker, he was given a private tour by Director Kathy Halbreich.

Visit the Picture Gallery at Mshale.com for more images from Mr. Annan’s visit.